While that may not have been hugely damaging it does go to the point self-service and does seem out of character for a voice of a corporation.

More importantly, though would seem one of Jalopnik’s points is getting lost in the noise. There appears to be much more promotion of the Scot Monty brand than the Ford brand, which appears to benefit from being in the shadow Monty is attempting to cast.

That typed, I fail to see the difference between Monty posting links to sites “see what they wrote about me” and Jalopnik posting links to articles “see what we’re writing about”. Seems like promotion of the brand, be it Monty or Jalopnik.

1.) I don’t call twitter “navel-gazing,” I claim that about Scott and other social media “experts.”

2.) I don’t claim twitter is a “masturbatory echo chamber.” I claim social media “experts” are the echo chamber themselves by constantly re-tweeting the same thing around to a bunch of people, both literally on twitter and figuratively on places like FastCompany.com.

3.) My twitter feed is TOTALLY mundane. You’ll also notice I keep it separate from the Jalopnik account despite the fact I often end up maintaining both. That’s because I view my message on Jalopnik as being different than my message from raywert. It’s something Scott should try to do if he’s serious about this whole not-promoting-myself, and really-promoting-Ford.

Thanks for responding here, I appreciate you taking a moment to read my little corner of the blogosphere.

I recognize your caution in making your efforts not all about you, but doesn’t Ford in some way benefit from hiring someone who already had a strong personal brand and understanding in social media? So as you improve your own brand as a social media strategist by speaking on the subject matter outside of the automotive industry, Ford in turn looks good for having the good sense to hire you.

I drive a Ford, but am not necessarily loyal to any car brand, foreign or domestic. But after Ford’s legal threatening of online sites and forums, I tweeted that Ford may be shooting itself in the foot (esp. considering the bailout pres). You responded within minutes and immediately improved my perception of the company.

It’s this unmeasurable or unquantifiable benefit of social media that Jalopnik and many of its’ readers (as reflected in the comments section) do not understand. To this end, I understand your hesitance to address them directly in back and forth communications, but I’d still love to hear what you have to say on your blog.

Thanks again for commenting Scott,

- Mark

The only thing I’ll clarify is that Ray claims I made the Ranger Station thing all about me. It’s just not true. We had 1,000 emails coming in and Twitter (which he admittedly doesn’t follow closely) was heating up with mentions of Ford suing its fans. I was there to inform people about the process and to share Ford’s ultimate response.

In my efforts for social media for Ford, I’m careful not to make it all about me, but rather to focus on our products, our commitment to fuel economy and quality, and activities that we’re involved in. If that doesn’t translate to Ray, then I’m sorry. But if he had bothered to actually interview me about the situation, I could have shared our position with him.

Scott Monty
Global Digital Communications
Ford Motor Company